The opening of Vatican Secret Archives from
the pontificate of Pope Pius XI may help historians to reevaluate the
years preceding World War II.

The archives, opened Sept. 18, include millions of letters relating to
the years 1922-1939, covering events such as the Catholic Church's
persecution in Mexico and Spain, the advent of Fascism and Nazism, and
the spread of Communism in Europe.

In this interview with ZENIT, Matteo Luigi Napolitano, associate
professor at the University of Molise, comments on the first steps of
analyzing the documents found in the archives.

Napolitano is also a delegate of the Pontifical Commission of Historical
Sciences to the International Commission for the History of World War
II.

Q: From the historical point of view, of what importance is the opening
of the Vatican Archives on the period of Pius XI's pontificate?

Napolitano: The opening of the archives, in the greatest possible
number, is in general the great desire of historians. In particular, the
Holy See's international relations can also be documented based on
different Vatican archives.

It is the case with Pius XI's pontificate: The valuable work carried out
by experts of Italy's Foreign Ministry, in the '80s, under the guidance
of professor Pietro Pastorelli, has enabled us to have access to an
enormous quantity of material relative to the relationship between the
Holy See and Fascist Italy.

The work of similar commissions abroad and the publication of diplomatic
collections, has enhanced our knowledge of many other aspects of Pius
XI's diplomacy.

But the opening of the papers of the Vatican Secret Archive represents
an enormous enrichment, not only because of its own importance, which
needs no explanation, but also because the internal dynamics of the Holy
See can be understood, especially in great moments of change in the
contemporary world in which the Vatican was involved.

Q: What do the documents say about Hitler's visit to Rome on May 2,
1938? How did the Holy See conduct itself?

Napolitano: From Father Giovanni Sale's research in the archives opened
in 2003, one deduces that neither Pius XI nor Pius XII were "Hitler's
Popes." The papers now available enlarge the horizon on Pius XI's
pontificate and specify two aspects that were already known for a long
time.

Documented, in the first place, is the Vatican's criticism of a passive
Mussolini, imitator of Hitler.

Recorded, in the second place, is the concern given the crushing of
Italy because of German politics, not only in regard to the racial
issue, but more broadly in choosing an alignment fraught with dangerous
consequences.

In this connection, Hitler's visit on May 2, 1939 to which you allude,
is symptomatic.

The Vatican did not approve of having the German chancellor in Rome.

The Pope's departure for Castel Gandolfo and his allusion to the other
cross that was rising over Rome, which was not Christ's, is only an
example of a larger theme of unfolding events, such as the controversy
over street decorations, over the route Hitler should follow, the
instructions to the Italian episcopate and religious not to participate
in manifestations of homage to Hitler, and the fear that the Axis would
become an alliance.

But also recorded was the Fascists' conviction that the Vatican's
anti-Nazi posture not only compromised the attempts to moderate Nazi
anger against the German Church, but ended ultimately by favoring the
"popular fronts," and, specifically, the "Bolsheviks" and French
"Masons" with whose position the Holy See seemed to be in agreement.

Q: What is your assessment of what the documents say about Pius XII?

Napolitano: The proclivities to controversy might now be tempted to
launch accusations, according to which the Vatican had a "Hitler's Pope"
and a "Mussolini's Pope" and, perhaps, also a "Franco's Pope."

But controversy and ignorance sometimes are related. This is
demonstrated in a Sept. 23 article by John Cornwell

author of the controversial book "Hitler's Pope"

in the British review The Tablet, in which he writes that the new
opening of the Vatican Archives of the period 1922-1939 "is an important
event for all researchers interested in the Holy See's relations with
Nazi Germany."

Cornwell demonstrates consequently that he is unaware that the Vatican
documents on the period 1922-1939 relating to German-Vatican relations
were opened in February of 2003. This is an example of a supposed
"expert" who is three years behind in regard to history!

To return to more serious matters, Pius XI's pontificate was certainly
great, including the way he addressed international affairs, along with
his principal collaborator, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pius
XII.

There are already

and others will come

proofs of the reservations of Pius XI and Cardinal Pacelli vis-ΰ-vis
exasperated nationalist phenomena such as Hitlerism. I would not be
surprised also to find documentary proofs that deny the old theory that
the Vatican was soft toward Nazism and inflexible with Communism.

Thanks to some documents, one can now perceive, for example, the
Fascists' judgment on Pius XI: Mussolini always saw the Pope as too
aligned against Nazi Germany and too tolerant toward the Bolsheviks. But
a more detailed judgment will only be possible when the examination of
existing documentation is complete.

Q: What was the relationship like between Pius XI and his secretary of
state, Cardinal Pacelli?

Napolitano: I would limit myself for now to verify what the other
archives say. In the archive of Italy's Foreign Ministry there is a
profile of possible "papables"

papal candidates

prepared by Monsignor Enrico Pucci in anticipation of the conclave and
given 
perhaps 
to the Italian ambassador in the Vatican, Pignatti Morano de Custoza.

In the profile relating to the future Pius XII, the following is read:
"Instead, it seems increasingly clear that the candidate preferred by
Pius XI for an eventual succession is Cardinal Pacelli. Pius XI,
especially recently, has never missed an occasion to manifest, even in
public addresses, the qualities of his immediate collaborator and of
showing him his predilection."

The document was published by professor Mario Casella in 2000. The
Vatican documents

and I am thinking especially of the "Diary" of the audiences written by
Pacelli 
will undoubtedly confirm this privileged relationship between the Pope
and his closest collaborator.